The Oppenheimer Report - 7/23/12

Late Thursday night in Aurora, Colorado, James Holmes, armed to the hilt and wearing head-to-toe bulletproof armor opened fire on unsuspecting theatre goers viewing the newly released Batman movie. About seventy victims were shot and twelve are dead. I could not believe the story about one unfortunate woman who, having survived a recent shooting spree in a Toronto mall, was killed in this latest Colorado rampage. Although police responded within minutes of being alerted, there was no way to prevent the massacre, once again begging the question, how do we stop this gun violence in America? I heard a stat on the news last night that for every American there’s a gun out on the streets, and a lot of them are illegal. The huge American gun lobby may be largely to blame, and I doubt the Founding Fathers anticipated internet sites like BulkAmmo.com, which allow anonymous customers to purchase thousands of rounds of ammunition with the click of a mouse. Yes, it seems obvious that we should make it harder for people to get and use guns, and some of the weapons available to the general “law-abiding” public are simply ridiculous, but even if we do tighten the gun control laws, will that change the culture of violence? We can make it harder to buy weapons, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Video games, increasingly violent movies, and the self-perpetuating sea of yellow journalism that reports the worst we have to offer all contribute and are indelibly woven into the fabric of our society. The question plaguing me is how do I make a difference? I’m pretty sure Washington is not going to help, because there’s too much money stacking the deck against common sense. If nothing changes, everyone will be packing heat and it will be the wild west. I saw an in-store surveillance video on the news the other night wherein an armed robber in a store was thwarted by an old man packing heat. The codger shot one of the would be robbers in the ass. We’re mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

And speaking of indignation over our broken democracy, have you seen the Warren Buffett’s “I-Could-End-The-Deficit-In-Five-Minutes” interview? It’s gone viral on the internet of late. I received an interesting email from one of my cousins the other day and I uncharacteristically forwarded it to twenty of my friends. Yes, I have 20 friends. Inspired by the comments of billionaire Warren Buffett, basically it was a call for sweeping reform in Congress. Google the Congressional Reform Act of 2011 if you want to learn more. We all know what the problem is. Such a sweeping reform is not likely to pass, but it just might send the right message if enough Americans put pressure on their lawmakers. No more tenure, no more pensions, no more preferential treatment: starting in 2012, all bets are off. Buffet’s strategy was to motivate Congress with the threat of expulsion. If the national deficit goes above 3% of the Gross Domestic Product, the entire Congress is ineligible for re-election. It’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but why shouldn’t they be subject to performance reviews?! That would go a long way towards ending the special interest strangle hold on America - might even stem the gun lobby - and it is about as likely to pass as Philandering Pizza Man’s 9-9-9 tax code. I suspect it’s pie-in-the-sky to presume we the people can rein in this monster, but we can certainly try! Screw the tea baggers, we need a genuine, non-partisan grassroots movement here.

I learned a new word the other day: whinging. That, apparently is a term some Britons use to describe low level complaining. For Londoners, whinging has turned to something a little stronger as they prepare for the imminent Summer Olympic Games. It seems as if every host of the Olympic Games, be it the summer or winter games, complains about the awful inconvenience and prohibitive expense of putting on this international show, and Londoners are no exception. Clearly, heightened security is the main culprit and I think one Londoner’s Tweet says it all: “It’s as if someone else is throwing a party in our house, with a huge entry fee, and we’re all locked in the basement.” Record rainfall is not helping matters, but no matter what the economic impact or challenges, the show must go on, and it always seems to. Perhaps they should consider staging these things in remote areas. Build it and they will come.

My sincere sympathies to all the families of the victims in Colorado last week. Maybe it takes a madman to remind the rest of us to love. It shouldn’t.

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED